Many companies package items and/or groups of items together for a variety of purposes, such as e-commerce and mail-order companies that package items (e.g., books, CDs, apparel, food, etc.) to be shipped to fulfill orders from customers. Retailers, wholesalers, and other product distributors (which may collectively be referred to as distributors) typically maintain an inventory of various items that may be ordered by clients or customers. This inventory may be maintained and processed at a materials handling facility which may include, but is not limited to, one or more of: warehouses, distribution centers, cross-docking facilities, order fulfillment facilities, packaging facilities, shipping facilities, or other facilities or combinations of facilities for performing one or more functions of material (inventory) handling. Selecting inappropriate containers in which to package items may increase costs, in terms of container costs, shipping costs, and/or item damage.
A common concern with shipping items and/or groups of items, referred to herein as “item packages,” involves ensuring that appropriate containers are used for shipping them, both to minimize costs and to protect the item contents. An agent may select a container based on a visual assessment of the item or items once they are picked from inventory and/or grouped. This visual method of selecting containers may be prone to human error, as an agent may select a container that is too small, that is larger than it needs to be to handle the item or items, or that does not adequately protect the contents of the container. This may result in higher costs associated with using an inappropriate container or in additional costs associated with re-work, in the case that an agent must re-package the item(s) or compensate a customer due to damage during shipping. For example, shipping an item or a group of items in a box that is larger than necessary may result in a higher shipping cost than shipping the same item(s) in a smaller box, due to the cost of the box and/or any higher fees associated with shipping larger or heavier boxes. Similarly, shipping an item or items in a box that is larger than necessary, or not filling each box to capacity, may waste valuable (and expensive) transportation space (e.g., space in a truck or in a shipping container that will be placed on a train or an airplane). In another example, attempting to pack an item in a box that is too large or too small for the item or that does not adequately protect the item may damage the item and/or may result in re-work if the item (or a group of items that include the item) must be taken out of one box and re-packaged in another (larger) box. These excess costs associated with shipping item packages in inappropriate containers may significantly reduce profit margins in some materials handling facilities.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including, but not limited to.